My Favorite Movies

One of the best films ever made. Period.

An underappreciated masterpiece.
"Serious" critics do not rate this film as among the best of cinema nearly often enough.

I've seen this movie over 100 times, and never once regretted it.

Once upon a time, John Carpenter was THE Indie horror / action / sci-fi film genius of the world. At least three of his films are among my favorites of all time, and They Live is one of his best, if not THE best.

A cinematic masterpiece. Not a technical tour-de-force (but very competent), but the rest of the film excels on every level. I've seen very few other films three times in the theaters. I can't recommend this film highly enough.

Punk Rock nostalgia, German style. This film is pure genius, and one of my new sentimental favorites. It deals with how poorly ideals age when the people who hold them mature, as well as the value of friendship and how former enemies can find they really needed each other as a new world erases that which they once knew. An absolutely fantastic sentimentalist film with a (matured) punk aesthetic.

I've seen practically every film ever made with WWII as its subject matter, and this is easily in my top 3. A genius film that tackles a very difficult subject matter with great artistry.

I've seen pretty much every film that has WWII as its subject matter, and this film is easily in my top 3. The fact that most Americans have never seen it is a dreadful shame, because it's quite different from the typical American treatment of the Holocaust era in films. While I do like films such as Schindler's List, the approach taken in this film is more personal and emotional and less charicatured and therefore more successful.

I've seen pretty much every film made with WWII as the subject matter, and this is easily in my top 3. Roman Polanski atones for his past cinematic sins with this film. Pretty much a perfect film in every aspect.

An amazing film. A friend who is a journalist in the Middle East watched this film with us, and said that Winterbottom totally nailed what it was like to be there. The story is compelling (and heartwrenching), and the acting brilliant (especially brilliant given that the two main characters are kids). Between this and Code 46, Winterbottom is really someone to watch out for.

One of the best comedies ever.

Chan-wook Park is a great director, and this may be his best film. This is probably the best Asian drama I've seen that wasn't directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Among the very best of American animation. It has a story that genuinely appeals to all ages, and is technically excellent as well. Brad Bird took the already unparalleled Pixar and made the studio even better.

Not only one of the great animated films, but one of the great films. Easily the best animated drama I've ever seen (but that's such a paltry selection anyway -- the Iron Giant is as good, but it has a lot of comedy in it as well which this doesn't). One of the great fantasy-dramas I've seen, animated or otherwise. In terms of sheer gravitas and allegorical sophistication, probably the most compelling animated film of all time.

While still working in Germany, Fritz Lang was one of the greatest directors in cinema history. In this film he established the style of crime dramas for years to come, while making a much more relevant, prescient, and intelligent film than pretty much any of its successors in that genre.

At times very funny, at times very moving. Both a sociopolitical observation and a tear-inducing family story. A truly terrific film. The acting was all absolutely top-notch, and Wolfgang Becker is a superb director -- I hope we hear more from him soon.

I watch a lot of war movies, and this is one of the best. Peter Sarsgaard steals the show, and that's not because anyone else is bad, only slightly more brilliant than Jake Gyllenhaal.

Schlock genius. A Zombie love story that is seriously charming, yet at the same time bizarre and disturbing. This director, and his cast (especially the Japanese Vincent Price analogue) should make more films. Please. Totally schlocktastic.

The fact that this film was a box office failure is one of the great travesties of American cinema history. The fact that it only has an average rating of 3 stars on Flixter means that this site is populated by heartless buffoons with no appreciation for artistry. It is quite possibly the best American animated film of at least the last 20 years.

John Carpenter, please stop making crap like Ghosts of Mars and please start making ridiculous and fun films like this again.

THE classic Cronenberg film.

Quentin Taratino should watch this and learn how his movies ought to be made.

Kubrick was a genius, plain and simple, and Malcom McDowell's recent spate of mediocre films are all erased by watching this masterpiece. A film with far reaching cultural influence, it's one of the rare adaptations that's as good as the book.

This film should be mandatory viewing for anyone who wants to make a low-budget sci-fi film. There are no robot armies, space ships, or huge laser battles -- indeed it's mostly a film about people walking around outside -- but it's still a gripping film.

Schlockarrific punk rock alien invasion transsexual love story. What's not to like about that?

One of the funniest films I've seen. It feels like a Billy Wilder movie (perhaps most closely compared to the undeappreciated One,Two,Three), but with an even more Polish sensibility. If you are neither Slavic nor a student of Slavic culture and history, you might not get some of the humor. However, the broad satire of the film holds up even without a specific frame of reference.

Kubrick was a f***ing genius.

Some people accuse this film of being racist because it's not as balanced as the book. I agree it's less balanced, but I don't agree it's a racist choice -- just the logical choice given the parameters of the Hollywood film system and the American film audience's preferences. The scenes between the Somalis and their prisoner I think humanize the enemy, and ultimately I feel this film is a brilliant depiction of both how terrible war is, and the comradeship of soldiers and its role in helping them through the horrors of war. Great acting from the entire cast.

Fritz Lang's Metropolis is one of the greatest films of all time. The Flixter synopsis says the story makes minimal sense and the "theme" belongs in a fortune cookie. That's nonsense. The story makes perfect sense if you pay attention (difficult in the SMS era, I know). What seems trite and cliched now is such because in 1927 Fritz Lang established a pantheon of stylistic and thematic precendents which would be ripped-off constantly for (so far) the next 80 years. Every futuristic social struggle film, every Robot in cinema, every reinterpretation of mythology... all these things in film owe a debt to Metropolis. The fact that Hollywood made Lang direct Westerns when he arrived in the US is a great crime in the history of cinema.

Weird B-movie filmmaking at its best. Funny, clever, and totally 80s.

This film revealed the brilliance, and established the career, of Walter Murch. That really says it all.

Now that Sam Rami has gone the way of the blockbuster (and John Carpenter decided to suck), Don Coscarelli is the last man standing for quirky but intelligent mixed-genre "horror" films. Bubba Ho-Tep is much more an insightful and compelling musing about aging and death than any kind of a typical horror film. With all the Indie film hubbub lately, it's a crime that this film hasn't gotten more attention (as it's better than most).

The perfect adrenaline film. Horror, Sci-Fi, and Action filmmakers all owe a great debt to this film for its contributions to the storytelling and visual lexicon for those genres (they may not be pleased at how high it raised the bar for excellence, though).

Starts to get a little old after about the 30th viewing, but since it got to the 30th viewing in the first place, I guess I must like this film.

One of the great achievements of cinema.

"Plays on Film," like "Books on Tape," are often done quite poorly. However, with Tom Stoppard helming his own film adaptation, this is a work of genius. It keeps its theatricality while at the same time being cinematic. The acting is all absolutely top notch, and the writing brilliant. When I found out this was finally available on DVD, I did a little dance of joy.

Spiderman was one of the better comic book adaptation films, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. But years before Sam Rami made Spiderman, he made a much more cinematically important, enjoyable, and lasting film -- and this is it. Bruce Campbell's Ash is one of the most memorable characters in film, and this movie has inspired countless attempts to recreate its magic (mostly fruitless, sadly).
A cult classic thoroughly deserving of its status.

Long, oddly paced, pretentious... and an absolute favorite of mine.

Quentin Tarantino's only truly masterful film.
It presages basically everything substantial in Pulp Fiction, and does it better.

Technically amazing, and with a beautiful (albeit bleak) story. Compelling acting by all involved, and overall a cinema masterpiece.

There are movies that happened to be made in the 1980s, and then there are 80's films. Of the latter, this is one of the very best.

Revenge of the Nerds meets Heathers meeds Shaun of the Dead in this bit of Horror-Comedy schlock brilliance. The best Zombie love story I've seen, other than Stacy. 2004 was a great year for Zombies, between this and the equally brilliant Shaun of the Dead. I've heard a US remake is in the works. Don't bother, see the original instead.